Sudan opposition reject Al Bashir third presidential term

Sudan's opposition political forces have renewed their objection to President Omar Al Bashir’s candidacy for a third presidential term in 2020, and rejected the upcoming constitutional amendments.

Khalid Omar, the deputy president of the Sudanese Congress Party said: “The National Congress Party (NCP) decision to re-nominate Al Bashir is no surprise. He termed the NCP “a one-man coup d’état party capable of manipulating the party with the help of a group of hooligans and beneficiaries”.

He told Radio Dabanga that “the re-nomination of Al Bashir reveals the intention of the regime to tear-up the constitution in order to prelude the eternal rule of Al Bashir”.

National Consensus Forces

The leadership of the National Consensus Forces coalition said that it is not preoccupied with the 2020 elections nor amendments to the constitution.

Mohamed Dia, said that the coalition strongly proposes the principle of overthrowing the regime; “because it is the National Congress Party that decides to amend the law and with the greatest majority that allows it to do so…”

Dia explained that the coalition’s , and that their problem is not in the nomination of Al Bashir or any other candidate, but rather with the National Congress Party as a regime with political, economic, social and security institutions, that needs to be dismantled in order to find a democratic alternative.

President Omar Al Bashir has accepted nomination for a third term, and will run as candidate for Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party in the 2020 elections – a move that will require amendments to the Sudanese constitution.

Third term

On Thursday, the National Shura Council of the National Congress Party (NCP) meeting in Khartoum approved Al Bashir as its presidential candidate, in spite of a restriction to two terms by Sudan’s constitution.

Speaking at the closing session of the NCP advisory council on Saturday, Al Bashir accepted nomination, thanking the party’s leadership for their confidence.

Al Bashir’s nomination for a third terms follow amendments made by the NCP to its own constitution, but will now require amendments to the constitution of Sudan, which limits any individual to two terms as president, to be passed by parliament.